Stan Getz
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Stan Getz | ||
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| Background information | ||
| Birth name | Stanley Gayetsky | |
| Born | February 2, 1927 | |
| Died | June 6, 1991 | |
| Genre(s) | jazz, cool jazz | |
| Instrument(s) | tenor saxophone | |
Stanley Gayetsky (February 2, 1927 in Philadelphia – June 6, 1991 in Malibu, California) was an American jazz musician. He is considered one of the greatest tenor saxophone players of all time. Known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, Getz's prime influence was the wispy, mellow tone of his idol, Lester Young. In 1986, however, Getz said: "I never consciously tried to conceive of what my sound should be..."
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[edit] Life and work
Born to Ukrainian-Jewish parents and raised in New York City, Getz played a number of instruments before his father bought him his first saxophone at the age of 13. In 1943, he was accepted into Jack Teagarden's band. He also played along with Nat King Cole and Lionel Hampton. After playing for Stan Kenton, Jimmy Dorsey, and Benny Goodman, Getz was a soloist with Woody Herman from 1947–49. He scored a hit with Early Autumn. With few exceptions, Getz would be a leader on all of his recording sessions after 1950.
Getz married Beverly Byrne, a vocalist with the Gene Krupa band, on November 7, 1946; they had three children. He married Swedish aristocrat Monica Silfverskiold on November 3, 1956, and had two children. In 1957, Swedish girlfriend Inga Torgner gave birth to his son, Peter.
In the 1950s, Getz become popular playing cool jazz with Horace Silver, Johnny Smith, Oscar Peterson, and many others. His first two quintets were notable for their personnel, including Charlie Parker's rhythm section of drummer Roy Haynes, pianist Al Haig and bassist Tommy Potter. In 1958, Getz tried to escape his narcotics addiction by moving to Copenhagen, Denmark.
Returning to America in 1961, Getz became a central figure in the Bossa nova. Along with Charlie Byrd, who had just returned from a U.S. State Department tour of Brazil, Getz recorded Jazz Samba in 1962 and it became a hit. The title track was an adaptation of Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Samba De Uma Nota Só" (One Note Samba). Getz won the Grammy for Best Jazz Performance of 1963 for "Desafinado".
He then recorded with Jobim, João Gilberto and his wife, Astrud Gilberto. Their "The Girl from Ipanema" won a Grammy Award. The title piece became one of the most well-known latin jazz pieces of all time. Getz/Gilberto won two Grammys (Best Album and Best Single), besting The Beatles' A Hard Day's Night, a victory for Bossa Nova and Brazilian jazz. Wes Montgomery and Joe Henderson incorporated Brazilian jazz in their work. In 1967, Getz recorded albums with Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke.
Getz resurfaced in the 1980's, experimenting with an Echoplex on his saxophone, for which critics vilified him. He eventually discarded fusion and "electric jazz", returning to acoustic jazz. Getz gradually de-emphasized the Bossa Nova, opting for more esoteric and less-mainstream jazz. He had a cameo in the movie The Exterminator.
He had become involved with drugs and alcohol while a teenager, and would physically abuse his wives while under the influence. In 1954, he was arrested for attempting to rob a pharmacy to get a morphine fix. As he was being processed in the prison ward of Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, Beverly, whom Stan had gotten addicted to heroin, gave birth to their third child one floor below. After years of trying to get him clean, Monica, who had gained custody of Stan and Beverly's children, left him; he divorced her in 1987.
Getz died of liver cancer. In 1998, The "Stan Getz Media Center and Library" at the Berklee College of Music was dedicated to him through a donation from the Herb Alpert Foundation.
[edit] Quotes regarding Getz
- "Flawless technique, perfect time, strong melodic sense and more than enough harmonic expertise, fabulous memory, and great ears. Add a superb sense of dynamics, pacing, and format. Top this off with a sound of pure gold and you have Stan Getz". — pianist Lou Levy
[edit] Samples
- Download sample of "Indian Summer"
- "Early Autumn" on YouTube (with unrelated video)
- "We'll Be Together Again" on YouTube
[edit] Partial discography
- West Coast Jazz (1955)
- Hamp and Getz (1955)
- The Steamer (1956)
- For Musicians Only (1956)
- Stan Getz And The Oscar Peterson Trio (1957)
- At The Opera House (1957)
- Getz Meets Mulligan In Hi-Fi (1957)
- Focus (jazz album) (1961, remastered in 1997)
- Jazz Samba (1962, remastered in 1997)
- Stan Getz With Cal Tjader (1963)
- Stan Getz And Luiz Bonfa Jazz Samba Encore! (1963)
- Getz/Gilberto (1963) – Grammy Award
- Getz/Gilberto #2 (1964)
- Getz Au-Go-Go (1964)
- Stan Getz & Bill Evans (1964)
- Sweet Rain (1967)
- Captain Marvel (1972)
- The Best Of Two Worlds (1976)
- The Peacocks (album) (1977)
- Another World (1978)
- Pure Getz (1982)
- Serenity (1991)
- People Time (1991) – with Kenny Barron
- You Gotta Pay The Band (1991) - with Abbey Lincoln
- Yours and Mine: Live at the Glasgow International Jazz Festival 1989 (1996)
- Bossas & Ballads- The Lost Sessions (2003) – recorded in 1989, but not issued until 2003
[edit] Bibliography
- The Stan Getz discography - Astrup, Arne. [1978]
- Stan Getz - Palmer, Richard. 1988.
- Stan Getz: an appreciation of his recorded work - Kirkpatrick, Ron. 1992.
- Stan Getz: a life in jazz - Maggin, Donald L. c1996.
- Stan Getz: nobody else but me - Gelly, Dave. 2002.
- Stan Getz: an annotated bibliography and filmography - Churchill, Nicholas. 2005.
- Jazz saxophone: an in-depth look at the styles of the tenor masters - Taylor, Dennis, 2004.
